A blog launched on the 41st anniversary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the first pro-life organisation in the world, established on 11 January 1967. SPUC has been a leader in the educational and political battle against abortion, human embryo experimentation and euthanasia since then. I write this blog in my role as SPUC's chief executive, commenting on pro-life news, reflecting on pro-life issues and promoting SPUC's work.

Monday, 31 March 2014

Abortion-compromised London "Catholic" hospital to remove orthodox Catholics from Board this evening

LifeSite is reporting that there's a meeting today at which the Board of Trustees Company for the the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth will be removing from its Board a number of orthodox Catholics.

LifeSite reports:

The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, which calls itself "the UK’s premier Catholic Hospital," is attempting to remove from its Trustee Company several orthodox Catholics. The hospital, despite taking "great pride" in its "Catholic ethos", hosts a National Health Service clinic that refers women for abortions.

LifeSiteNews called the hospital and was informed that Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, [pictured above] was still patron of the hospital despite this fact not being mentioned on their website at the time of writing.

(I have written previously of the approval given by Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, of an ethical code at St John and St Elizabeth’s Hospital, London, which failed to ban abortion referrals, unlike the previous code approved by the hospital board in 2007.)

I understand that the Hospital's board meeting to remove orthodox Catholics takes place this evening.

John Smeaton

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 39 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to SPUC's staff, supporters and advisers for their help to me in researching, writing and producing this blog.

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